ITV results “strong in a challenging environment”

UK Commercial broadcaster ITV has reported its full year results to December 31st 2017, with total external revenue up 2 per cent to £3.1 billion (€2.4bn), driven by double digit growth in non-NAR. Total ITV Studios revenue were up 13 per cent to £1.5 billion, with 7 per cent organic revenue growth, excluding currency. The Online, Pay & Interactive division was up 7 per cent to £248 million, with double digit growth in Online.

Carolyn McCall, ITV Chief Executive, said: “There is no doubt that ITV’s operational performance in 2017 in a challenging environment was strong. ITV delivered a great viewing performance on-screen and online and double-digit revenue growth in video on demand advertising and ITV Studios. This gives us a solid foundation to build on for the next phase of ITV’s development. We are very focused on our strategic refresh. This will enable us to define a clear strategy and priorities that will highlight the opportunities and address the challenges that we face in an increasingly competitive media landscape. This project is well underway.”

“We have had a great start to 2018. On-screen we have grown our viewing share and volume and online we have continued to deliver double digit growth in viewing. We expect ITV Family NAR to be positive in the first half, with Q1 up 1 per cent and growth in Q2 around the football. ITV Studios is seeing increasing demand for its formats and dramas, particularly in the UK and US, and we have over 60 per cent of this year’s expected revenue already booked. Reflecting our confidence in the business, and the outlook for 2018, the Board is proposing a full year dividend of 7.8p, up 8 per cent,” she concluded.

Other highlights include:ITV Hub

The ITV Hub, which is now available on 29 platforms, continues to grow rapidly, driven by viewing on mobile and connected televisions. The ITV Hub is now pre-installed on around 90 per cent of all connected televisions sold in the UK and launched on Apple TV, Apple’s new TV app and Microsoft Xbox in 2018.

Long-form video requests were up 34 per cent and online viewing consumption, which measures how long viewers are spending online, was up 39 per cent. The ITV Hub has now been the fastest-growing public service broadcaster online service for the last three years driven by the good user experience and great content and now has 21 million registered users.

The ITV Hub helps ITV reach valuable younger audiences – 75 per cent of the UK’s 16-24 year olds are registered together with 65 per cent of the UK’s 16-34 year olds. Younger viewers increasingly use the ITV Hub for simulcast viewing, as well as catch up, with programmes such as Love Island delivering record viewing with 1.3 million simulcast requests for the final.

Expanding global distribution business

Global Entertainment, the distribution arm within ITV Studios, delivered revenue growth of 4 per cent to £187 million (2016: £179 million) as it continues to drive value from investments in creating and owning the rights to quality content with international appeal. As well as funding and creating new content from ITV Studios, it also invests in third-party producers and their content from all over the world. Global Entertainment’s pipeline of new projects is strengthening with projects such as Vanity Fair, The City And The City and World On Fire expected for 2018.